The Last Assassin

Chapter 4: The Blade's Mind

  I saw them... my siblings... it was the day they died. That moment in my life kept replaying in my head, and it wouldn't stop. I woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat, and gasping. I sat up, and looked at the dark room. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness, and loked around. I sighed, and closed my eyes again. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up, and went to leave. I opened my room door, and I saw the scenery around my room. My room was one of the rooms to be located in a forest-like area. A was just outside, staring at the forest. She seemed different without her robes on. Everyone always had their assassin wear on, so this was the first time I saw her without them. She was wearing a long shirt that buttoned up at the top near the neck.

  She didn't look like she could kill you at any second, like she usually did. I walked over, and she turned to look at me, since I didn't try to be quiet. "Can't sleep?" she asked me, and I nodded. I'll admit that with people I barely know, I'm really quiet, but when I was with my family I was a chatterbox. I learned quite a lot about A, though. Practically the only thing I didn't know about her was her actual name. She told me once A was just a nickname, and it wasn't even the start of her real name. She was given the nickname A because she was the first female assassin in a long time in history, and A was the first letter in the alphabet. Weird, I know. I sat down on a rock, near a creek, and just listened to the creek flow for a while. A sat next to me.

  "You ever wonder why you signed up in the first place? I've been thinking that a lot lately." I told her, and she shrugged. "I can't say I have, but Derrek told me you've been thinking that."

"what's his deal anyway? Everyone seems human here, but he knew what I was thinking without me even telling him." A laughed. "Yeah, he's kind of a telepath. It's not a born with gift, like some people here. Derrek trained hard, and eventually his mental capability managed to learn telepathy from it all. He's basically pychic." I looked at her, and wondered if she did anything like that. More than likely, she did. She was the leader of this place. "I can't read minds, but I can kind of slow time for me, but to others, I'm just moving really fast. It happens when you work out your agility and speed. That's why I'm a deadly efficient assassin." I shrugged, and thought for a moment. I heard that phrase "Deadly efficient" somewhere before, but couldn't remember where. I shrugged it out of my mind, and looked at the creek.

  "I'm just a guy who can run away if I need to. I can't read minds, or go really fast. I'm just... a runaway..." I sunk my head into my arms, kind of like a turtle would in its shell. A laughed slightly, and sat next to me. "Trust me, you'll find something you can do. Everyone does. I didn't learn this stuff overnight. You'll be good at something." I shrugged, and laid down on the flat rock. I looked up at the sky, and noticed that there were so many bright stars. I saw what I thought was a shooting star, but as I looked closer, it wasn't. It seemed like someone with wings flying overhead. "Do you see that?" I asked A, and she looked up. "It's just a shooting star."

"No, it was a guy. With wings." A looked at me like I was either crazy or hallucinating. "No, I don't think anyone here has wings. You're really tired, so your mind's playing tricks on you." I nodded. I guess I was tired. A laughed slightly at my, somewhat, ignorance. We spent what seemed like hours connecting stars, and doing things I forgot about when I first joined the assassins. After a while, it grew silent. I looked at A, and she looked at me. I don't know what made this moment happen, but we both leaned forward, and pressed our lips against each other's.

  I woke up in my bed, at what seemed like 6 in the morning. I knew none of that was a dream, but something felt weird in my room. I looked around in the barely lit room, and saw nothing had changed. My arm felt heavy, and I looked down. A was there, sleeping on my arm. I knew none of it was a dream. A woke up, and smiled at me, with a tired face. "Morning." was all she said, then she kissed my cheek, and left. I had no idea what happened just then, or the night before, but I felt like that moment wouldn't last between us. The days after were normal. A and I never discussed what happened that night, so I knew we were going to act like it never happened.

  I walked into the practice arena, and Derrek looked at me from across the room. He walked over, and held his sword at my neck. He obviously wanted to fight. "I know what you did, and you will die for it." was all he told me, as got ready to fight. "Don't I get a sword?"

"You don't get anything. Get ready to fight, or die." He had his sword behind his back, and before I could react, he slashed my arm. I shot out my hidden blade, and I kept blocking every slash and strike he made. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. This went on for a couple of minutes, before I heard a voice in my head speak. 'Block, then swing at his left leg.' I did exactly that, and when I did it, Derrek lost his balance and fell on his side. He dropped his sword, and I instinctively picked it up, and held it to his neck this time. He looked at me with disgust, and I movedthe blade away. After some practicing, I started to hear the voice more often, as if it were someone, or something, around me.

  One of the assassins walked up to me and asked me, "How do you know where exactly to hit after each block?" I shrugged, and told them the truth. "It's just a voice in my head telling me what to do." The assassin looked at his friend, and walked over there. I'm pretty sure they're starting to think I'm crazy. I went to the forest, and the assassins in there all looked at me. I didn't know things spread around fast, and they were all whispering. A walked up to me, and asked me the strangest question. "People are saying that you're becoming bladelpathic. Is that true?" I looked at her with a blank expression. "Bladelpathic?"

"It means you can communicate with blades. They tell you what to do when you're fighting, like a voice in your head." I shrugged "I think so. There's a voice in my head whenever I fight now, so is that it?" She nodded. "This is a first... in a while. The last bladelpathic assassin died in the 1300's, but he kept it a secret. I think you would know him. His name was Aquilis. One of the first assassins."

"I honestly don't know who that is, but I'm betting he's a big deal?" A nodded. I looked around, "So what does that mean?"

"It's a rare thing to be bladelpathic. It also means you have an advantage. Since you can talk to blades, that means they can tell you when, and where, to strike. You're basically a flawless fighter with blades. If you get attatched to a blade, it'll talk to you a lot, and you'll know it's secrets, history, and power." I nodded. I didn't think something as simple sounding, like talking to blades, could be so powerful. If i was able to find a weapon's secret, then that would mean I would have the best weapons. I was interrupted by gunshots, and screaming. I saw Templars all around, and they opened fire on us. Several of them jumped around me, and A. We both got ready to fight. 

  They got a few good few hits on me, then I heard the voice again. It had to be my hidden blade. 'Shoot me out, block the next punch, and stab through the wrist.' I saw the next fist come at me, and I grabbed it, and spun it around until my blade was through it. I pulled it out, and used the guy as a human shield to the incoming bullets. 'Push the Templar off, then slash the one behind you in the neck.' I pushed the Templar down, turned around, and evaded the Templar behind me, and slid my blad across his neck. As I heard the flesh rip apart easily, I heard more gunshots. I ducked down, and I saw A in danger. She seemed to be losing and she was getting ganged up on. I stood to go help her, but I was interrupted by a pistol to the neck. The last thing I remember seeing was the same pistol that shot my leg, and smacked me in the head.